Medication dispensing cabinets have been developed in order to store and controllably dispense a variety of medications. A medication dispensing cabinet may include a cabinet body with one or more drawers that are slidably disposed within the cabinet body. The drawers store the various medications. While some of the drawers may be unlatched and freely openable, other drawers may be locked in order to more closely control access to the medications stored in the locked drawers.
Some medication dispensing cabinets are automated and, as such, include or are otherwise associated with a computing device that controls access to the medication stored within the cabinet. The computing device may allow access to only authorized users, such as healthcare practitioners who work in the unit in which the medication dispensing cabinet is located. Once authorized by the computing device, a healthcare practitioner may identify a particular medication to be dispensed, such as by reference to the medications prescribed to a respective patient to whom the healthcare practitioner is attending. The computing device may then unlock the respective drawer in which the particular medication is stored so as to provide access to the medication. Once the healthcare practitioner has removed the medication from the first pocket, the drawer may be reinserted into the cabinet and locked.
A drawer of a medication dispensing cabinet is designed to be smoothly opened and closed. However, the repeated opening and closing of the drawers of a medication dispensing cabinet may cause the drawers to gradually require more force to open and close due to wear of the components that allow for the sliding movement of the drawer, intrusion of dirt or other contaminants that decrease the efficiency with which the drawer may be opened and closed or the like. This change in the force required to open and close the drawers of a medication dispensing cabinet may correspondingly increase the effort that must be expended by the healthcare practitioner who must repeatedly access medications stored by the medication dispensing cabinet.
Additionally, the drawers of a medication dispensing cabinet may sometimes be closed with an excessive amount of force, such as in instances in which a healthcare practitioner is in a hurry, is frustrated or otherwise. While medication dispensing cabinets may be constructed to withstand fairly substantial forces in conjunction with the closing of the drawers, the application of excessive amounts of force during the closure of a drawer, particularly on a repeated basis over the course of time, may accelerate the rate at which the medication dispensing cabinet wears or ages and, in some instances, may cause the medication dispensing cabinet to be damaged and to require repair, thereby requiring the medication dispensing cabinet to be taken out of service for some period of time. By way of example, the application of excessive force in conjunction with the closing of a drawer, may cause a lock associated with the drawer to break or otherwise be damaged. A broken or damaged drawer lock may require repair which may cause the medication dispensing cabinet to be temporarily taken out of service.